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Re: Reed dimensions and the golden mean

Author: Craig Matovich
Date: 2007-06-10 00:00

And my all-time best science teacher back in Jr High and High school days always included 'at sea level' for standards such as speed of sound in air, water, or steel.

My experience is this: I played around the east coast for 20 years plus, say from 'sea level' to 750 ft. above, then moved to Florida for 5 years, so sea level plus 1 ft., then to Denver, CO and wham! I really had to learn some reed adjustments to play comfortably here. I made a much thinner heart, and reeds down to 67.5 on a 46 mm tube at times. ( Now I'm going for 68 - 68.5 mm finished on the newer RDG gouge and its working pretty well for me.)

But the funny thing is, when I go back to sea level or + 750 ft., the oboe reeds I make here play very well. Ehorn is still up in the air a bit. Last year's ehorn recording for Oxymora was such an unusual and 'primitive'piece it kinds of defied my usual ehorn sound. But I have a couple new tunes lined up for this year and will see how things go trying for my usual ehorn sound this time. (However, I am arying some new RDG ehorn cane on a different shape, so results may vary.... I take several blanks back just in case...)

It has happened that the oboe reeds worked well on multiple trips back to work in the recording studio in Virginia my group records for. So at least the elevation difference and the huge extra humidity I find there seems to work pretty well with my CO reeds. I have not made any fresh reeds there but may try that next round in a couple weeks.

Now, I also play up in Evergreen, CO, another three thousand feet up and there I find my reeds a little hard, so I have to dust the heart a bit to be comfortable playing there, especially with low range response.

( For oboe, I gouge .58 -.60 mm, on an RGD gouger these days on their 11 mm bed and blade and still use my trusty Brannon-X shaper 35 years later and the 46 mm staples I've used since John Mack sugested 46.5 to me (us) in his Carolina Camp in 1980.)

Good stuff, thanks to all for all the participation on this thread. My usual philosophy is that its not as important having the answers as in asking the next meaningful questions or at least helping to catalyse the discussion.

As usual my friends: [toast]